Rebranded Fairfield Geotechnologies focuses on data

As part of its evolution, Fairfield Geo is not only building on its ocean bottom nodes technology but is growing its onshore Lower 48 capabilities through mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships, Davison said. Already, the company has acquired WGP and the U.S. multi-client data library of Geokinetics and has formed strategic partnerships with Schlumberger and Ikon Sciences; more are planned.

As part of its evolution, Fairfield Geo is not only building on its ocean bottom nodes technology but is growing its onshore Lower 48 capabilities through mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships,

As part of its evolution, Fairfield Geo is not only building on its ocean bottom nodes technology but is growing its onshore Lower 48 capabilities through mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships, Davison said. Already, the company has acquired WGP and the U.S. multi-client data library of Geokinetics and has formed strategic partnerships with Schlumberger and Ikon Sciences; more are planned.

As part of its evolution, Fairfield Geo is not only building on its ocean bottom nodes technology but is growing its onshore Lower 48 capabilities through mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships,

A Houston company that pioneered the use of ocean bottom nodes is shifting its business focus to deliver data-processing services, reservoir analytics and integrated solutions as part of its life-of-field seismic services.

As part of that shift, FairfieldNodal has become Fairfield Geotechnologies.

Chuck Davison, Fairfield's chief executive officer, said the company also has a substantial multi-client database in the Permian Basin.

"We've grown substantially over the last four years. The Permian has been good for us and we've had good returns," he said in a phone interview from his Houston office.

Today's clients want more productivity, and to achieve that, they're turning to seismic data, data analytics and Big Data, he said. They're integrating seismic data to better understand reservoirs back to the fractures and using seismic input to better understand reservoir behavior, he said.

"We're seeing a trend of operators using data to get up the learning curve faster, reducing risk, mitigating risk and lowering costs," he said.

As part of its evolution, Fairfield Geo is not only building on its ocean bottom nodes technology but is growing its onshore Lower 48 capabilities through mergers and acquisitions and strategic partnerships, Davison said. Already, the company has acquired WGP and the U.S. multi-client data library of Geokinetics and has formed strategic partnerships with Schlumberger and Ikon Sciences; more are planned.

Fairfield Geotechnologies continues to build on a comprehensive OBN technology portfolio and has embarked onan aggressive program to grow its capabilities through M&A and strategic partnerships, he said.

Reflecting on the company's offshore roots, Davison said operators have learned a lot from their offshore operations that can be applied onshore. He said a lot that has been learned onshore can be applied offshore.

The Delaware Basin, for example, "is a new development. It's what we call a greenfield development, a new play. Offshore is proven -- what we call brownfield development, where operators are optimizing recovery rates, water injection," he said.

That leap up the learning curve and using data for life-of-field services is very applicable in West Texas, Davison said.

"The reservoir lives are different. Companies investing $1 billion in an offshore field know it takes a 20- to 30-year step out to yield recovery. Onshore, the learning curve is faster. Life-of-field duration is much shorter. They go through the cycle in a shorter period of time."

To accommodate the industry's focus on data to enhance efficiency, increase productivity and reduce costs, Davison said Fairfield Geo is continually making adjustments.

"We're about portfolio optimization. We need a balanced portfolio to aggregate our risk. We continue to add things to our portfolio to increase our technology offerings," he said.

"Our business strategy is: one, enhance our core business offerings; two, expand our business with new customers and new geographies; and third, extend our marketplace with acquisitions."

He sees his company has being in the right place at the right time as data becomes more key to the oil patch, with companies applying data to more things to solve problems. He also sees artificial intelligence coming into significance as it's used increasingly in interpretation.